Prometheus
by KarateKairi
Summary: When Professor Kujyou suddenly appears in the present, he brings with him more questions than answers. Only Karin holds the key to unraveling the mystery, but doing so will mean confronting the painful reality of her past. Can she figure it out in time to save not only herself, but her friends as well? …Or is she already too late?
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I am not Koge-Donbo, I do not own Kamichama Karin, nor do I pretend to. **

**I also do not own **_**Frankenstein**_**, whose rights most likely belong to whatever studio has so utterly annihilated it with their countless movie adaptations. Read the book, kids. ****xD**

**(A/N) This is the beginning of my attempt to straighten up all of the loose ends of this series, for myself. It bugged me how many of them there were, especially because I really liked this series. However, I am also thankful for it, because that gives me plenty to write about! Hope you like it.**

"_It was the secrets of heaven and earth that I desired to learn; and whether it was the outward substance of things, or the inner spirit of nature and the mysterious soul of man that occupied me, still my enquiries were directed to the metaphysical, or in its highest sense, the physical secrets of the world." - _Frankenstein_ Mary Shelley_

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><p>The evening fog was beginning to descend on London that cool September night as the four of them made their way to their cars. The seven o'clock movie had just let out, and they chatted easily, winding down their 'double date night'. It was the first time they had all been out together since Himeka was born. Suzuka and Kazuto Kujyou walked hand in hand, close together to keep warm, excited to get home to the baby daughter that they both adored so much.<p>

Kirihiko Karasuma walked to Kazuto's right, hands buried deep in his pockets, eyes shaded by his mop of dark hair, and talked quietly with Kazuto in Japanese about general things going on at work. His wife, Kira Karasuma, walked on Suzuka's left, arms crossed over her chest to trap her body heat, her long light brown tresses framing the soft features that were mirrored so perfectly in her own young daughter, Kirika.

She and Suzuka talked about their kids; how Suzie was adjusting to having a new baby in the house, Kira sharing wisdom that stemmed from her experience as a first-time mother raising twins, who were now almost four. The two women spoke in English to each other, smiling and laughing easily like old friends do. But something was nagging at the back of Suzuka's mind. Something was not quite right about Kira tonight.

Part of it was in the way she kept throwing furtive glances at her husband. Another was the distance between them, both physical and otherwise. All night, Suzuka realized, she and Kazuto had always been in the middle with the other two flanking. And although she didn't mean to do it, she found herself comparing the way Kazuto had his arm around her now, keeping her warm, how he had casually held her hand during the movie, and how he had brushed her hair to the side when they had sat down to dinner, to the cold indifference that Kirihiko was showing his wife. She hadn't seen him even go near her once the entire evening. She couldn't remember them saying a word to each other, either. For the first time she wondered what their home life was like. It was obvious that they were having problems, but Suzuka didn't dare ask Kira right now.

They had reached their parking places and parted to their separate vehicles, Kira waving to Suzuka and saying cheerfully, "See you in a minute."

They would follow the Kujyous back to their house to pick up their kids, where the babysitter was watching Himeka, Kirio, and Kirika. Suzuka waved goodbye in return and slid into the passenger seat of their familiar Volvo. She waited for her husband to get in and rev up the engine, then cranked up the heat, rubbing her arms to get the chill out of her bones. September wasn't usually this cold.

"I think we're heading into an early cold snap," Kazuto commented as he backed carefully out of the parking space. He waited for the Karasumas to do the same before heading out onto the highway. They drove along for a few minutes in silence, the radio on low, tuned to the single Japanese broadcasting station where the announcer was rambling out a plug for some concert going on in Kyoto that month.

She didn't know why, but Suzuka spoke barely above a whisper when she asked, "Do you think they're okay?"

She knew that her husband would understand who she meant; his silence made her think that he must have noticed it, too. He replied by asking, "You mean Mr. and Mrs. Cold-Shoulder? Sure. They probably just had a row or something."

He paused before adding, "After all, it's not like they were ever a perfect match."

His tone was light enough, designed to wipe the frown from her face, but despite the joking she could tell that he was troubled as well.

"Not like us." Suzuka said it teasingly, although she was only half-joking. Right now, her life was as close to perfect as she could have ever hoped for it to be. She just wished that her friends' could be the same. When Kazuto rolled his eyes at her, she smiled for him, but just as quickly relapsed into seriousness when a new thought hit her.

"You don't think they'll split up, do you? Those poor kids…"

Her husband opened his mouth to reassure her but, finding no good answer, closed it again. After a moment's deliberation he settled with, "It's up to them. It isn't our business what they do with their lives, love. All we can do is be good friends, and be there for them if they need us, and hope for the best."

He didn't look at her, but kept his eyes on the road. Suzuka nodded solemnly in reply even though he couldn't see it, and stared down at her hands clasped in her lap. She knew that he was right, and there was nothing else they could do but wait and see what happened. They passed the rest of the fifteen minutes' journey in silence, the headlights of the Karasuma's black compact tagging along behind them.

Soon they were pulling up their long gravel driveway, getting out of their cars and heading up the front steps. The Kujyou's house was a good-sized Victorian, nestled on an acre of land and attended by several large oaks that provided shade and protection from the outside world. They had both fallen in love with it immediately because, although it was just a few minutes outside of town, it had the feeling of being miles away, hidden deep in their own private forest.

The lights were on in several of the windows, and the soft yellow glow illuminated the porch as Suzuka fumbled in her purse for her keys. She was just turning the key in the lock when a loud shriek emitted from within. This was immediately followed by a chorus of wailing cries, so she shoved the door open and all four of them ran inside.

Just as they entered the foyer, a mane of red hair appeared at the top of the stairs and rushed down to find out what the commotion was. The source of the crying seemed to be coming from the cavernous living room on the left, and it was for this that Kira immediately dashed.

"Mama!"

Kira stooped down to receive her daughter, who had come flying into her arms with one hand clasped tightly over her head.

"Kirika! Are you all right? What happened?" Kira asked urgently, trying to pull away Kirika's hand.

Ana Nishikiori, who had arrived at Kira's shoulder, looked into the room and gasped in horror. She ran forward to grab her young son, who held four inches of light brown hair in his tiny fist, a pair of construction paper scissors discarded at his side.

Kirika finally dropped her hand to reveal a large chunk of hair missing, the short piece that was left sticking out at an odd angle. She fell into a fit of renewed sobs, burying her head in her mother's shoulder.

Ana had picked up her son, admonishing, "Micchiru! When we get home, you are in _so_ much trouble!"

She turned to Kira, her deep blue eyes wide in apology, "I am so, so sorry! I only left them for two seconds to put Himeka down, and they were sound asleep! I never imagined he would do something like this!"

Kira smiled up at her, saying calmly, "It's okay. It's only hair, it will grow back. No harm done."

"No harm done?" Kirihiko asked sneeringly, finally breaking his silence. "She looks like a freak. We can't send her to preschool like that!"

Kirio, who had woken up with all of the noise but was sitting silently on the couch, got up when his father spoke and wandered over to his sister and mother. Kira took his hand as she stood to face her husband.

"She does _not_ look like a freak!" Then she paused, a worried frown appearing on her face. "But the other children might make fun of her. I'll just have to cut the rest to match, I suppose." Kira brushed what was left of her daughter's once-long hair to the side, muttering, "It's going to be pretty short though…"

Ana broke in, "Again, I am really sorry. I don't know what I'm going to do with this fellow when he's older… he's going to be a terror for his teachers!"

She chuckled good-naturedly before plowing on in her heavy accent, in good English tradition. "So, catastrophe aside, how was the movie?"

Kira snagged the change of subject like a life-vest. "It was good. I really liked it."

Suzuka re-entered the room then after having sneaked off to check on Himeka during all of the commotion. She immediately launched into full-scale movie review mode, telling Ana everything that she liked and didn't like, while Kazuto pulled Kirihiko to the side. "Come here, I want to show you something."

Kirihiko followed his old partner to a door in the wall next to the stairs. It opened inward to reveal another set of stairs leading to the basement. Kazuto led the way down them, flicking on a light switch at the end. The room wasn't very large, but it was filled with stacks of papers, books, and a wide array of equipment. What drew Kirihiko's eye, though, was the tank on the far wall that seemed to be emitting a faint blue glow. Kirihiko drew in a sharp breath when he saw what it contained.

"My God… Kujyou, you've done it!"

When they emerged a few minutes later, the living room was empty. Kazuto opened the swinging door to the kitchen to find his wife and Kira inside, Kirika still in her mother's arms, and Kirio standing beside Suzuka, looking as if he was about to fall asleep right there.

Suzuka was shaking her head, and when she saw her husband, exclaimed, "Ana left without pay again! I forgot to give her the money in all of the excitement, and she ran out the door before I remembered. She can't do that! They need the money…"

"And I forgot too! Can you believe that?" Kira interjected. "Here," she said, setting Kirika on the counter and pulling out her pocketbook.

"You aren't really going to write her a check, are you?" Kirihiko was leaning in the door jamb, glowering at her. Kazuto had moved over next to his wife, one hand on the small of her back.

"Don't worry about it, Kira. I'll write her a check and send it to her tomorrow, okay?" Kazuto said, throwing Kirihiko a side-long glance.

"What, you're going to pay her for us too? You don't have to do that, Kazuto."

"I want to. It's not a problem, really. Just get this one home before he falls asleep in my kitchen," he said quietly, giving Kirio a gentle pat on the head.

Kira smiled gratefully as she picked her daughter up off the counter. "Thank you," she said softly, and grabbed Kirio's hand. "Come along, Kirio-chan. Let's go home."

"I'll walk you out!" Suzuka offered brightly, and followed her friend out of the kitchen. Kirihiko let them all pass, but lingered in the doorway, giving Kazuto a long, calculating look.

"I'll talk to you later about…" he left his sentence there, and Kazuto nodded in acknowledgement. With that, Kirihiko turned on his heel and walked out the front door, leaving his wife and children in the entryway where Kira was still saying goodbye to Suzuka.

"Well, I guess he's leaving without me, so I'd better go," Kira said laughingly as she gave Suzuka a one-armed hug and a light kiss on the cheek. "I'll call you later, okay? We should do this again soon!"

"Absolutely!"

And within minutes they were pulling out of the drive, the pricks of their headlights disappearing into the gloom.

"What a crazy night!" Suzuka exclaimed as Kazuto closed and locked the front door. "That Micchi sure is a handful!" She smiled contentedly and started to head up the stairs when she noticed her husband's expression.

"What's wrong?" She stopped at the bottom step, and he walked slowly over to her, his eyes distant.

Without a word, he slipped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer, kissing her full on the mouth. She was surprised at the suddenness of it, but couldn't deny how good it felt. So she just ran her fingers through his dark hair and kissed back. They lingered like that for a few minutes before finally breaking apart. Kazuto cupped her face in his hand and looked her directly in the eye, his dark eyes deadly serious.

"I love you," he whispered. And Suzuka burst into a fit of giggles.

"What?" he asked, surprised and a little hurt by her reaction.

"I just… I'm sorry. You were just so serious about it," she laughed as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

"I am serious," he said, but smiled in spite of himself at her infectious laugh.

She gave him two short kisses and said quietly, "Fine. I love you too." Then she dropped her arms and started back up the stairs, saying, "Can we go to bed now?"

He raised an eyebrow and grinned mischievously before chasing her up the stairs, Suzuka muffling her squeal so as not to wake their sleeping daughter. They raced to their bedroom and shut the door quietly behind them.

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><p><em>(AN) The end got a little fluffy, didn't it? Oh well, it's cute! Haha. The beginning is kind of slow… but don't worry, it gets much better from here! Also, in case anyone was wondering, I am aware of Kirio and Kirika's origins according to the anime/manga. What I will say about it is this: all will be explained in later chapters, so read on!_


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

"_I feel exquisite pleasure in dwelling on the recollections of childhood, before misfortune had tainted my mind, and changed its bright visions of extensive usefulness into gloomy and narrow reflections upon self."_

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><p>Suzuka awoke to a kiss on the back of her neck, her long blonde hair being swept to the side, and long fingers tracing the curve of her side, from her shoulder-blade down to her pelvis. She shivered, grumbled a little, and opened one eye a slit.<p>

"Hey," a familiar voice whispered, "I have to go."

She opened her eyes and half-rolled over. "What do you mean you have to go? What time is it?"

It was still as dark as if it were night, and the small lamp on the bedside table was turned on, its artificial light stinging her eyes as she tried to make out the time on the digital clock below it. 4:30. She brushed a strand of hair out of her face and looked at her husband. He was already dressed and messing with his tie.

"Work. I know it's early, but something came up."

In reply, Suzuka sat up and pulled him over, tying the knot in two seconds where it might have taken him a whole minute. Kazuto Kujyou may be a genius at some things, but the little things that he couldn't do… that was why she was there.

"And you woke me up because…?"

He kissed her lightly in thanks. "To say goodbye. And because I want to say goodbye to Himeka before I leave…"

Suzuka narrowed her eyes at him. "Kujyou Kazuto, you are not waking up my daughter at four in the morning."

"She's my daughter too," he said in a mockingly hurt tone. "She's going to be up soon anyway, it's not like you would get that much more sleep."

She gave him a pout, "Who said anything about me? I'm worried about her not getting enough sleep."

"She sleeps all day, she'll be fine. You just don't want me to leave, so you're arguing with me to make me late, so then I'll lose my career and get to stay here with you and Himeka all day, right?"

"Oh no, my master plan is foiled," Suzuka said with a sleepily sarcastic smile.

Kazuto laughed, saying, "As much as I would love that, I also love what I do, so – " he gave her a swift kiss on the forehead, "I have to go. Love you."

"I love you, too." And with that he was gone.

Suzuka sighed heavily and dropped back onto the pillows, her eyes closed, figuring she would get a few more seconds of peace and quiet before Himeka was awake. But she smiled to herself, feeling happy and incredibly lucky to have such a beautiful family, beautiful home, beautiful life. She had no idea that the chain of events that would change her life forever, and uproot everything as she knew it, had already begun.

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><p>Karin sat up in her bed, suddenly wide awake. The digital clock on her nightstand read 4:35 a.m. She sat perfectly still, listening to the silence of the sleeping house. She had the strangest feeling that she was supposed to get up and do something, but she couldn't remember what. It was the odd, lost feeling of abruptly waking up from a very vivid dream, and just as quickly not remembering any of it. She closed her eyes, trying to hold onto at least one piece of it that might shed a little light on why she was feeling so confused. She had thought that it had been a happy dream, so why was she suddenly so sad?<p>

It was hopeless; she would never get back to sleep now. Karin sighed and got out of bed, flicking on her lamp. Shii-chan was curled at the end of the bed, and her ears twitched with the click of the light, but otherwise she didn't stir. Karin slipped into her fluffy slippers, pulled her robe on over her nightgown, and headed out toward the kitchen. She might as well get a drink of water, and maybe watch some television; perhaps that would put her back to sleep.

Karin padded quietly down the hall, through the entryway and into the kitchen. As she swung open the door, she was surprised to find that it wasn't empty.

"Kyuu…-chan?"

The old butler was on the far side of the kitchen at the sink with his back to Karin, dressed in his robe, nightcap, and bed sandals. She could hear him humming softly to himself.

_This is the only time I've seen him not in a suit…_

"Kyuu-chan, what are you doing?" Karin asked as she walked closer to him, but he didn't seem to hear her. He just turned to dry a dish and put it away in its proper cupboard, still humming.

_-.- Dot-dot-dot… He's cleaning in his sleep… Kyuu-chan needs a better hobby._

Karin decided it was the right thing to do to try and wake him up, so she walked over and tapped him sharply on the shoulder. He put down the dish that he was wiping and turned toward her. His brown eyes looked at her curiously.

"Suzuka-sama, what are you doing up?"

_S-S-Suzuka! _"No, Kyuu-chan, it's Karin, remember? You're dreaming, wake up!" *poke poke*

Kyuu-chan blinked, shaking his head slightly. "Of course. Karin-sama. What are you doing here?" He looked around him and realized that he was in the kitchen and not his bedroom. "Better yet, what am _I_ doing here?"

Karin gave a high, almost nervous laugh, "Sleep-cleaning, apparently."

"How strange…" he said thoughtfully, looking down at the dish in his hand. "Well, since I am here, I suppose I might as well finish the dishes," he added cheerfully.

"I'll dry if you'll wash, then we can both go back to bed, okay?" Karin volunteered, flashing a small smile.

Kyuu-chan nodded and handed her a plate."So, Karin-sama, we know what I was doing in the kitchen so early in the morning, but what were you doing?"

"Ah. I had a bad dream… I think."

"Hmm," was all Kyuu-chan said as he handed her another dish to dry. Karin found that the work and having someone to talk to was already making her feel better. The dream didn't matter so much anymore. Now she had something new to think about.

They worked in silence for a minute, before Karin worked up the nerve to ask, "Kyuu-chan…if I might ask…why did you call me Suzuka?"

Karin kept her eyes on the plate that she was drying. She tried to keep her voice as causal as possible, but hearing the name had unnerved her more than she would have liked to admit.

Kyuu-chan remained silent for a minute, and Karin was afraid that he hadn't heard her and she was going to have to repeat the question. She put away the plate and he sighed as he handed her a bowl.

"Because I also knew you by that name," he said simply.

"And?" she asked, her green eyes wide.

"And that is all you need to know, Karin-sama." Kyuu-chan placed the last clean dish on the counter and dried his hands on a towel. When he saw Karin's face, he smiled and gave her a gentle pat on the arm, before walking out of the kitchen without another word.

Karin watched him go, dumbstruck. After everything they had been through, with the two Himekas and the Karasumas, and Kazune-kun collapsing every other week, and he was still going to keep secrets from her! She plopped down into a chair with a huff, crossing her arms and scowling at the tiled floor. She should march after Kyuu-chan and demand that he tell her everything he knows! But… that wasn't very fair to him.

Maybe she didn't wonder enough about Suzuka. She didn't ask very many questions, even to Kazune-kun after… the whole thing with Professor Karasuma. When she thought about it, she knew that there were plenty of things that she wanted to know, things that she was afraid to ask because she didn't want to hurt anybody. The whole topic of the "past" was like an unspoken taboo around here.

… But didn't she deserve to know? After all, it was _her_ past they were talking about here, not anyone else's. Did Kazune-kun and Kyuu-chan even know everything that had really happened back then? Maybe that was why they hadn't told her, because they didn't have all of the facts.

Karin put her head in her arms, slumping down on the table. _This is all so confusing… how did I even start thinking about all of this, anyway? It seems like I'm just going around and around in circles and not getting anywhere. My head hurts…_

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><p>"Karin?"<p>

Someone shook her shoulder and she lifted her head up from the table.

"Eh?" It was morning, and sunlight flooded in through the window. She could hear birds chirping outside.

"What are you doing down here?" Kazune-kun's voice asked, as his face appeared in front of her.

"Oh… I guess I fell asleep," she said groggily. She shook her head slightly, trying to remember why she was in the kitchen instead of in her own bed.

"Well I can see that much, but _why_ were you asleep in the kitchen?" Then Kazune shook his head in exasperation, thinking better of his question. "Never mind, I forget who I'm talking to. Karin, you have to go get dressed or you'll be late for school."

"Kariinn-chaaan," Himeka's voice floated through the door of the kitchen, followed by the girl herself a moment later. "Were you hungry in the middle of the night and decided to come down for a midnight snack?"

Karin laughed as she got up from the table. "Okay, I'll be ready in ten minutes. Don't leave without me!"

As Karin ran off to her room to get ready, Himeka smiled and nodded, "I'll keep Kazune-chan from leaving without you, don't worry!"

When she was out of earshot, Kazune muttered, "And who said I would leave without her?"

Himeka just giggled, pushing a strand of shining dark hair behind her ear.

They reached Sakuragaoka Academy just as the warning bell was ringing. They were supposed to be in class already.

"See what you did? We're almost late!" Kazune said angrily.

"What I did? You're the one who didn't wake me up!" Karin retorted.

"Ooh, look Karin-chan, a butterfly!" Himeka stopped to point out the flying yellow and purple insect with glee.

"Pretty!" Karin stopped beside her, but Kazune just ran ahead, seeming not to hear them. Unfortunately for him, it was hard to miss the sweat drop at the back of his head, and renewed sense of panic with which he ran into the school, in the opposite direction of the bug.

"But we have to hurry, Himeka-chan." Karin grabbed her friend's hand and together they hurried into the school. Just as they reached the classroom and walked through the door, the final bell rang, "Whew. That was close."

Sensei gave them a disapproving look, but waited for them to take their seats before beginning the lesson.

A few hours later, towards the end of the day, it was time for the math lesson. Sensei was droning on and on, and the words were beginning to blur together. The sun filtering through the window panes was hot on Karin's skin; a light buzzing entered her ears and her pencil went slack in her hand. Her eyelids began to droop. Karin shook it off and sat up straighter. _No, I can't fall asleep! We're going to have a test on this tomorrow!_

Despite her best efforts though, she found herself slipping into darkness.

* * *

><p>Suzuka watched her fingers play the chords in amazement. Kira sat on a stool across the kitchen, strumming her battered old acoustic guitar. O'Flaherty's, a popular bar in the middle of town, had called her and asked her to play for them that night, since their regular act had dropped out unexpectedly. So Kira was practicing in the Kujyou's kitchen, the Karasuma twins doodling on construction paper on the tile floor beside her.<p>

Before she had met Kirihiko, Kira was going to be a singer/songwriter. She still played and wrote sometimes, and did gigs whenever someone needed her, like tonight, but it seemed to Suzuka that she had mostly given up on her dream. When Kira had called to tell her about the job, and asked her to watch the twins that night, there was no denying the excitement in her voice. They were only paying her 50 pounds, but Kira didn't care about the money. She would do it for free. Standing there listening to her play, the music seeming to emanate from deep within her soul, Suzuka couldn't imagine why she hadn't made it.

"Hey, Kira?"

"Hmm?"

"How come you don't write anymore?"

Kira stopped playing suddenly, the notes still reverberating, and looked Suzuka square in the eye. "How come you don't?" she retorted, then picked up her song again, humming slightly.

Suzuka couldn't deny the truth of that, and was silent for a moment as she tried to think of a suitable reply.

"I got busy, I guess." Kira shot her an 'exactly' look, and continued strumming.

"We all make sacrifices for our families, don't we?" Suzuka said thoughtfully.

"Wrong. _Women_ do. You don't see our husbands giving up on their dreams, do you?"

"But…"

"No buts, Suzie, you know it's true."

Suzuka thought that was a little unfair. She was glad that Kazuto was so successful and happy in his career. She didn't feel like she was giving anything up to be with him.

_But,_ she realized, _maybe Kira does…_

"You know something?" Kira said suddenly, her tone aggravated. "Kirihiko used to love my music. He always wanted me to play for him."

When she didn't continue, Suzuka prompted, "And now?"

Kira stopped playing again, but this time she slapped her hand over the strings and it was abruptly silent. "Now he tells me that it annoys him and that I should go somewhere else because I'm interrupting his 'work'. Which is why I came over here."

"You're always welcome here, you know that," Suzuka said quietly, unsure of what else to say.

Kira's gaze softened. "I know. Thanks." She glanced at the clock and hopped up from her stool, "Look at the time! I'd better be heading down there, I don't want to be late!"

She planted a kiss on each of her twin's heads and grabbed her bag off the counter. Suzuka smiled and wished her friend good luck. She couldn't quite place why, but she was suddenly more worried about her than ever. Himeka began crying from her crib just as the front door shut with a –

* * *

><p>SNAP!<p>

Karin woke with a jerk, and was surprised to find herself in class. She could have sworn that she was somewhere else entirely. Then she noticed that everyone had turned toward the back of the room, where the noise that had woken her must have originated. She turned too, to see Micchi, a row to her left and a few seats back, picking up his textbook from the floor and smiling in what Karin guessed was supposed to be a sheepish way. As everyone else turned back to the front of the class, he shot her a look.

Turning back to the front, she blinked several times, trying to get her head on straight. She felt guilty and for falling asleep during such an important lesson, and grateful that Micchi had woke her up, but… for some reason she also felt that she resented him for it, as if he had taken her away from something important.

Everyone sighed in relief as the bell rang signaling the end of the day. Karin stifled a yawn as she packed up her things.

"Have a nice nap, Hanazono-san?" Micchi leaned against her desk, his bi-colored eyes twinkling.

"Thanks for waking me up, Micchi."

"Oh, it wasn't _my_ idea." Karin had just opened her mouth to ask what he meant when a voice growled her name behind her.

"I see," she murmured, and turned to face Kazune-kun's wrath.

"What are you doing falling asleep in class! You know you have to keep good grades to stay at this school, you idiot!"

"I know that!" she whined, "I couldn't help it! I didn't sleep very well last night." And she picked up her bag and headed for the door where Himeka was waiting, not looking at him. Kazune stared after her in shock; that reaction wasn't very like Karin, he was half-expecting a punch to the face.

"Karin-chan, why _were_ you asleep in the kitchen this morning?" Himeka asked concernedly as the two of them walked out the door, leaving Kazune and Micchi to catch up.

"I had a weird dream that woke me up, so I went to the kitchen to get a drink of water and…" she was about to tell Himeka about Kyuu-chan's sleep-cleaning – Himeka would probably think it was funny too – but then found herself skipping over it entirely. "I just sat down and fell asleep again."

"Oh," Himeka said in her quiet, breathy voice. "Do you remember what the dream was about?"

Karin looked into her friendly brown eyes and for an instant saw another identical pair looking back at her with unmatched intensity. She felt her heart rate increase considerably and listened as if from far away as her own voice said, "No, not at all."

**End part 2**

_(A/N) Simply, if you have read this far, thank you for reading! Come back next week for Chapter 3! - K.K. =]_


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I am not Koge-Donbo, I do not own Kamichama Karin, nor do I pretend to. **

**(A/N) Well, so much for once a week updates! I knew it was too good to be true, but Chapter 1 and 2 were so easy, and then Chapter 3 kicked my butt. I just wasn't happy with it for the longest time, and I still don't think its perfect, but... It's finally done though, I'm so glad! Special thanks to spica14 for helping me get in gear and finish this! ****To you and everyone else who may be reading this: Please enjoy, and questions, comments, and reviews are always welcome!**

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><p>" <em>Life and death appeared to me ideal bounds, which I should first break through, and pour a torrent of light into our dark world."<em>

"Buy crispy chocolate flakes today! They're choco-licious!

*click*

"… was arraigned today for the murder of her husband with a – "

*click*

"Dosukoi~!"

*click*

"– come on down to the 13th annual Kyoto Music Festival!"

Karin stopped flipping for a moment and stared at the announcer on the screen.

"Music festival?" It seemed to ring a bell for some reason, but when she couldn't figure out what was familiar, she shut the television off with a disappointed huff and collapsed into the cushions.

The house was very quiet now; she could hear the clock ticking a steady beat on the far wall.

Kazune-kun and Himeka-chan were at school. Karin would have been there too if she hadn't woken up with a fever that morning. So now she was huddled on the couch with her blankets, staring blankly at the wall since the TV hadn't succeeded in distracting her. She began to feel a dull pounding behind her eye. It was probably time for her to take some more medicine.

Karin slowly pulled herself up from the couch and began to trudge her way out to the hall, blanket trailing behind her like a train.

A few minutes later she emerged from the kitchen with a glass of water and pills in hand. But what she saw there made her stop cold. The glass slipped from her hand and shattered on the wood floor.

Medium height and build, dark hair, dark brown eyes. More than that, she knew him by his posture, the slope of his shoulders; she knew his hands, she remembered the feel of his fingertips… No. Impossible.

"Kazuto" The name fell from her lips automatically, involuntarily; she whispered it quietly, almost inaudibly. Karin was shaking her head slowly, stiff with shock. Then she turned on her heel and walked back into the kitchen.

Her back pressed against the door, she took several deep breaths and pressed her hand to her heart, feeling it beat rapidly against her palm. She felt as if she had just seen a ghost. _Calm down, Karin, _she coached herself. _He isn't real. I'm just ill, that's all. Yeah. I'll take some medicine and go back to bed._

Karin nodded determinedly and marched over to get more water. But her hands were shaking so badly she was afraid that she would drop another glass, so she sat at the kitchen table instead. There was no hallucination following her into the kitchen, so hopefully that meant that it was gone. Karin sighed and closed her eyes, listening to her heartbeat as it slowed back to its normal pace.

She opened her eyes again and shrieked, almost falling out of her chair. A hand kept her from falling, and a familiar voice spoke, "Sorry! I didn't mean to startle you. I just…"

The fake/ghost/hallucination Kazuto Kujyou suddenly bent down beside Karin, a look of concern on his face. He had one hand on her arm and the other he put to her forehead. "You have a fever," he told her, as if this would be news to her.

"I know," she said stiffly. _That's why you're here._

Karin wondered vaguely whether it was smart to talk to her hallucinations, but she wasn't sure what else to do. She had thoroughly convinced herself that he was not real, and so was able to keep relatively calm. However his hand on her arm felt very real. _Maybe I'm dreaming again?_

"Have you taken anything for it?" he asked her calmly, as if there was nothing strange going on at all.

"Well I was about to…" Karin mumbled, feeling annoyed. "But… my glass broke."

"Right." Her hallucination immediately sprang to his feet to get her a fresh glass of water. He scrutinized her as she swallowed two aspirins.

"Who are you?" he asked slowly.

"Shouldn't I be the one asking that? After all, you are in my house," Karin returned as she finished her water.

"But you said my name… and you look exactly like my wife. Are you my daughter?"

"Your…" Karin let her sentence hang, and simply stared at the imposter. If he was a figment of her imagination, why didn't he know who she was? This was getting weirder by the minute… She found herself wishing that Kazune-kun would come home to check on her and make this nightmare go away. But what if it didn't go away? What if she had gone crazy and he was going to stay here forever, watching her with that concerned expression that she recognized from the hazy memories from all those years ago? From her other life.

Did her hallucination really expect her to explain to him that she looked exactly like his wife because she technically _was_ his wife?

No way. She couldn't do it. Even if he wasn't real, she couldn't do it.

"No, I look like your wife because I am your wife." Stupid fever.

There was another long pause, only now there were two people in the room who doubted Karin's sanity.

"I'm afraid I don't understand," Professor Kujyou said finally, in a carefully measured voice, made to sound patient and placating at the same time, as if he really was speaking to an insane person.

"Are you Professor Kujyou?"

He raised an eyebrow but answered, "Yes."

"Then shouldn't you know all of this already?"

Kazuto again regarded her for a moment before answering. "Know all of what, exactly?"

Karin sighed, becoming impatient. "You should already know how I'm Suzuka, and Kazune-kun is a clone of you, and about the god transformation rings and all of that. You should be the one telling me what's going on, not the other way around."

As Karin was talking, a sudden change came over her listener. His entire body seemed to go rigid, and his face went blank.

"Kazune? You mean… it worked?"

"What worked?"

"He's alive? How is he? What is he like?"

Karin didn't know if he was joking or not. "Of course he's alive… Why wouldn't he be?" She didn't want to think about a world where Kazune-kun wasn't alive. More than once she had almost lost him… "Are you real?" she asked out of the blue.

"Um… yes?"

"You sound like you're not sure." Karin's ears were suddenly filled with an odd, annoying buzzing sound. She looked quickly around the room, but couldn't tell where it was coming from.

"Well, to be frank, I'm not very sure that you're real."

"No way! I'm the real one. You're the one that's not real."

Another long pause. "I think you should go lie down now," Professor Kujyou said quietly.

"Why?" Karin asked. The buzzing refused to stop, and suddenly she was beginning to feel dizzy.

"Because," he said simply as he helped her to her feet, "you're sick. Come on."

Karin couldn't argue with this; everything was getting pretty hazy. She allowed herself to be led out of the kitchen, and then continued to shuffle to her room on her own, her strange, concerned hallucination trailing behind her. He stared at her oddly, and seemed to be thinking very hard about something.

_About what?_ She wondered vaguely. There was nothing strange going on. She was home sick and he was taking care of her. What was weird about that? He always took care of her when she was sick.

As soon as Karin entered her room, she flopped down on her bed, her blanket from the living room still wrapped tightly around her. When he didn't immediately follow, but hovered just outside the door, she sat up.

"What are you doing? Come here."

He entered slowly, glancing around him, that same far-away look in his eyes. As soon as he was close enough, she grabbed his hand and held it, falling back onto her pillows. Within a minute she was fast asleep.

* * *

><p>Kazuto stayed with Karin while she slept, sitting in a chair near the window where he could keep an eye on her. Mostly he was thinking, going over and over everything that this girl had told him in the few minutes that he had spoken with her, trying to understand what was going on. Not much time had passed, when a little white bird alighted on the windowsill and tapped purposefully on the windowpane. Kazuto just stared at it for a minute, sensing something vaguely familiar about it, about its intelligent stare. He got up and opened the window on a whim, and the bird immediately flew inside.<p>

Kazusa transformed into her human shape before touching the ground, and stood gazing silently at Kazuto. "Otou-san?" She asked inquisitively, her large blue eyes widening in amazement.

"Kazusa?" Kazuto laughed incredulously as he recognized his first creation. She looked so grown up. What was going on here?

Karin stirred at the sound of their voices, and began to wake, her eyes widening when she saw the bunny-ear-clad girl in her room, and Kazuto beside her, with a hand on her shoulder.

"How are you?" he asked in a quiet voice, staring at Kazusa in mixed joy and disbelief. Kazusa didn't have time to reply before Karin interrupted them.

"EEEHHHH!" The pair turned to look at Karin, who was screaming and waving her arms wildly. Kazuto was at her side in an instant, "What's wrong?"

"AHHH!" Karin shouted. "GET AWAY FROM ME! AHHH!"

Kazuto took a step back, looking concerned.

"She can see you? You –You're not a… a hallucination?"

"No, I'm not, but – shhh. Calm down." He said, trying to soothe her as he moved forward to sit on the edge of her bed, placing a hand on the top of her head. Karin quieted down at the touch, noting that Kazune-kun had done the same to her before. Her green eyes were still fearful, the covers pulled up to her chin. She felt tears begin to well up in her eyes and the room began to spin around her as all of the blood rushed from her head. Not breathing didn't help, and suddenly everything around her went black.

"Otou-san?" Kazusa asked. "What are you doing here? We thought you were dead…" She was fanning Karin with a paper fan; Kazuto had gotten a cold compress for her head.

"Dead?" he repeated slowly. "Is that why I'm not here now? I'm dead?"

Kazusa just stared at him curiously, confused. "What do you mean, otou-san? You are here now."

"No…" Kazuto said thoughtfully. "I was sent here. I'm from another time, and in my own time, something… something terrible had just happened." He closed his eyes as if trying to remember. "But the memory is fuzzy – I can't really remember it – almost as if it's really been…"

He trailed off, then looked at her, "Kazusa, how old are you?"

"Thirteen, I believe."

"So I'm… thirteen years in the future? But how is that possible? And who is this?" he questioned, indicating Karin. "She says that she's Suzuka, but I'm tempted to believe that she's just delirious."

"No, what she says is true. Her name is Karin, which is –"

Kazuto chimed in, and they finished the sentence in unison, "Suzuka spelled backwards."

"Yes. But shouldn't you already know this, otou-san? You are the one who made her that way."

"I am?" he shook his head slowly and sighed. "I don't understand, Kazusa. How could this girl possibly be my wife? If this future has something to do with me, how come I don't recognize anything?"

Kazusa remained silent, regarding him with a calculating and slightly pitying gaze. Then she nodded, as if she had come to a decision.

"Normally I would wait for Kazune-sama to come home, but perhaps… perhaps you should follow me." With that she folded her fan, returned it to a fold in her kimono and headed for Karin's bedroom door.

Kazuto felt guilty about leaving Karin there alone, sick and unconscious, but she was breathing evenly now and he had left some water and aspirins on her bedside table if she woke up. She would be fine for a little while.

As soon as they had left, Karin opened one eye, then the other. She hopped out of bed and pulled on her slippers and robe, then waited a minute until she knew they were a good way down the hall before following after them.

* * *

><p>Kazusa led Professor Kujyou down the hallway and around the corner to a door bolted with numerous locks. She took out a thin golden key from some other hidden pocket and began to undo them.<p>

Down a dark flight of stairs leading into black, up a dim hallway, then through a door at the end, and they had entered a bright room with a high ceiling; standing sentinel on all of the walls were numerous bookshelves, filled to the brim with literally hundreds of heavy, dry books. Across the room, partway open, was another door from behind which radiated a familiar, faint, bluish glow.


	4. Chapter 4

_Disclaimer: I do not own Kamichama Karin. I do not own the following quote. I am not getting paid for this. Fun, right?_

* * *

><p><em>"You seek for knowledge and wisdom, as I once did; and I ardently hope that the gratification of your wishes may not be a serpent to sting you, as mine has been." <em>

_- _Mary Shelley _Frankenstein_

**Chapter 4**

Kazuto Kujyou looked up from his notebook. He was alone in his basement office at home in London. He stared across the room at the tank filled with bluish liquid inside which a small figure floated. It was nearly complete, but still he felt that something was not quite right… the only problem was, he couldn't figure out what.

She was the first one of her kind – of course there were going to be complications. He knew that he was looking at this too subjectively, making it too personal. This was science, and, as Kirhiko constantly reminded him, emotions were science's worst enemy.

But still, he had poured so much of himself into this project that he just couldn't help caring about her; she was like a second child to him now. If Kazuto had his way, she was going to be an actual living being, not just an anthropomorphic creature designed for one purpose: to transform. No, he wanted her to be as normal and fully-functioning as possible.

Okay, she might not ever be considered 'normal' by most people's standards, but to him she would always be exceptional, no matter what hiccups they might encounter. She would develop her own thoughts and feelings and personality… and become a unique individual, all on her own. Or so he hoped, at least.

His gaze travelled to the second blue tank against the far wall, currently empty. If everything worked out with Kazusa, he would begin work on the truly difficult part of this experiment – the fully-human genetic clone, Kazune…

Many miles and several years away, the same Kazuto Kujyou looked up from the same book, its well-worn pages now yellowed with age. He was seated at a desk in a similar but different basement office. Actually, he liked this one better. It was roomier and much more well-lit than the one he had fashioned out of the musty cellar of the old Victorian.

The strangest part about this whole scene, though, was that instead of looking up to a half-finished Kazusa and wondering what she would be like when she was completed, he now looked to a complete Kazusa, who was dutifully attempting to explain to him how he had gotten from Then to Now. It was one of the proudest and simultaneously most confusing moments of his life.

Unbeknownst to them, Karin was standing just outside the door, listening to every word that Kazusa said.

"…And although neither of us is perfect, we have been able to perform our functions quite well, and are perfectly happy with our lives."

"You _are_ happy, Kazusa? Even though you haven't been able to go to school or make friends or do any of the things that normal kids get to do?" Kazuto asked with sadness in his voice.

He hated to hear that she wasn't able to hold her human form for very long, that her DNA was more dove than human, and thus she was forced to stay in her avian state in order to maintain her energy.

"Yes, otou-san, I am. I have all of my family here, and it has grown quite a bit recently. They are all I really need. I enjoy watching over them from a distance and making sure they are safe. I'm… I'm not really one to enjoy extensive conversations anyway. Truly, I would much rather keep to myself."

Kazuto regarded her carefully for a minute, noting the earnestness with which she spoke about her family and keeping to herself, and realized that she had developed her own personality after all – and she was painfully shy around those that she didn't know very well. She probably wouldn't even be speaking to him if she hadn't somehow recognized him, presumably from her earliest memories of life.

The timeline of it all was still a bit muddled in his head, and again he wondered why he wasn't in the picture now –when had he left it, and for what reason? But he couldn't dwell on that now. Everything in his background told him to gather all of the information he could on his current situation before coming to any conclusions.

"And Kazune?" he asked finally. "What is his 'imperfection'?"

"Kazune-sama…" Kazusa began haltingly, "is a powerful kamika, but his god transformations drain his energy the way human transformations do mine. His form is more stable, but he has to be careful of how much power he uses, lest he wear himself out completely."

Kazuto was silent again as he glanced back down at the notes in front of him. "And if he uses too much power…?"

Kazusa gave a sober nod. "He could die, yes. But," she added quickly, "we have always been able to nurse him back to health. Kazune-sama is strong and obstinate. He has been in difficult situations before and never lets them get the best of him."

"'Difficult situations'?"

Kazusa gave a soft "Oh" as if she had said more than she intended to, before explaining, "Well, you see, things have not always been peaceful for us, but that is another part of the story entirely. And for that I think you should wait to speak to Kazune-sama, for there is much involved with it that even I do not understand."

"Very well then. But, Kazusa, I'm very sorry to hear that it had to be this way for the both of you. I wanted so badly for you to be normal – or as normal as possible under your circumstances."

"Thank you for your concern, but we are fine, really. We are healthy and happy now and that is all thanks to you, so you shouldn't feel sorry for us in the slightest, and you certainly shouldn't think that you have failed us. We owe you our existence, otou-san."

Kazuto looked back to her and gave her a small smile. "Hearing that makes me feel better, Kazusa, thank you."

There was another long pause before Kazuto continued calmly, "Kazusa, I understand now how you and Kazune came to be here, but how does Suzuka factor into this? I was always so careful to keep her separate from my research."

From her place hidden in the shadows, Karin's heart skipped a beat. She shuffled closer to the gap through which she was listening to the conversation, desperate to hear what Kazusa had to say next. It had never occurred to her to ask Kazune's mysterious clone sister what she knew. Could she have information that Kazune-kun and Kyuu-chan refused to tell her?

Kazusa paused for what felt like a very long time, leaving both of her listeners hanging in painful suspense.

"Well," she said slowly, searching for the right words. Before she could find them, though, they heard a door slam somewhere above them, and the sound of two pairs of shuffling feet. Kazune and Himeka were home.

"That will be Kazune-sama," Kazusa said, a note of relief in her voice. "I am sure he would like to be included in this conversation. Let's go get him, shall we?"

She started toward the door, and outside of it Karin froze, her mind going blank.

"Wait," Kazuto said, stopping her. "Perhaps you should bring him here. He might not be as understanding of my sudden appearance as you have been. I don't want to startle him too badly…"

Kazusa nodded, giggling slightly, and made to leave. But it seemed that Karin had other plans. In her delirious brain state, she was deliberating about what she wanted to do next: run back to her room and pretend that she hadn't been eavesdropping, step boldly into the room and demand to have everything explained to her, or…

Her indecision lasted only a moment before she was running up the stairs, shouting "KAZUNE-KUNNN!" at the top of her lungs.

"Karin?" Kazune called, immediately running toward the sound of her voice, certain that something terrible must have happened to her.

A moment later, Karin herself hurtled round the corner and flew into his arms, blubbering nonsense about Hallucination Professor Kujyou and Kazusa and Suzuka.

Kazune held her at arm's length and stared at her for a minute before putting a hand to her forehead. He felt how hot it was, then nodded to himself decidedly. "Karin, bed. Now."

Karin shook her pigtails furiously. "No! I know what it sounds like but you have to believe me! They're down there right now, he's –" she stopped abruptly as two pairs of footsteps hurried toward them. Kazusa and Kazuto rounded the corner to see Karin clinging to Kazune's arm.

"See!?" Karin shrieked.

Kazune froze, staring at his counterpart, his father, his creator. Kazuto stared back in awe at a mirror image of himself.

There was a moment of shocked silence as two looked at each other, then everything erupted into chaos. All of them began talking at once, offering explanations and asking questions and demanding answers. Then they all fell silent again when Himeka walked into the room.

She dropped her bag on the floor with a soft thud.

"Kazune-kun? Karin-chan? What's going on?"

Her eyes skimmed over them, Kazusa, and finally came to rest on her father.

"Himeka?"

She stared at him, blinked once, twice. "Papa?"

He stepped closer, examining her face. He remembered watching her in her crib as she slept when she was a baby, trying to imagine what she might look like when she was older. Her dominant features, her dark hair and eyes, were just like his, and he could recall many occasions when his mother-in-law would lament over how little her only granddaughter had taken after their side of the family.

But now, looking at his daughter practically grown-up, he could see that this wasn't true. He was thankful that she hadn't received the sharper characteristics of his face, and instead had taken on the softer, feminine beauty of her mother. He saw both himself and Suzuka in her, and because of that she would always be his most perfect creation.

"Himeka."

As she watched them stare at each other in wonder, Karin felt a fierce, unexplainable pang of jealousy. It was almost as if she were watching them from a million miles away, looking at her family as an outsider, unable to join them – no longer a part of them.

_No, that isn't true,_ a familiar voice in the back of her head whispered. _Himeka is my family now, too. Only… it's different somehow. Different, that's all. Not gone, just changed… _

She knew she was talking in circles, trying to convince herself of something that she didn't even understand; trying to soothe a fear that was still undefined. And that feeling of not even knowing what it was that was bothering her was terrifying.

All of a sudden Karin was feeling panicked, desperate, and horribly lonely all at the same time, and as her already aching head began to spin once more, she found herself struggling not to pass out again. It was all just too much – too much for her to handle right now. Too much for _anyone_ to handle. Something had to happen or she was going to explode, have a total meltdown… there would be no saving her from it this time!

Before she was even aware of what she was doing, she found herself whirling around and running out of the room. She heard someone call her name, but she didn't turn back.

Karin ran down hallways and through doors, not really knowing or caring where she was going. She hardly saw the rooms that she passed through. All she wanted to do was be completely lost, where none of them, not even herself, could find her. Finally, when she could hold back the tears no more, she fell to her knees on the spot, choking on sobs that caught in her throat and burned in her heart. Before she knew it, she was curled up in a ball on the floor, crying harder than she could ever remember crying before, and for a reason that still made no sense to her.

Back in the front room, Kazune had been watching the same scene Karin had, with feelings that were just as mixed. However, he was much better at controlling them. He was used to the fractured memories and fleeting moments of déjà vu that sometimes surfaced as a result of being a copy of someone else.

Sure, he had his own experiences and his own mind – only his DNA was a true copy – but still… It was almost as if the kamika research that had built him had come hardwired with pieces of its creator – of his emotions and sentiments, his hopes and dreams – that couldn't be separated from it no matter how Kazune tried to distance himself from them.

He had, however, shaken himself from his own internal struggle long enough to notice Karin's reaction, and it was certainly one that he had not been expecting. Her face had gone from flushed red with fever and excitement, to deathly pale in a matter of seconds. Her clouded eyes stretched wide as they locked onto the father and daughter who stared at each other with such wonder, soaking in the similarities between them as if truly meeting for the first time. Kazune watched the play of emotions that flashed across those eyes: the bewilderment, the grief, and the pain.

As always, her pain elicited a stab at his own heart, a much sharper one than anything that this happy reunion could evoke, although that hurt, too…

When she suddenly turned around and ran, he had immediately started to go after her, but something stopped him. That same feeling that was growing all the more every time he glanced at the man whose likeness he owned: The feeling that it wasn't his place to do so anymore.

But what was _he_ doing here? How was it possible? No, it was just that – it was _impossible_. Kazuto Kujyou was dead. He had left all of them behind. He had left Kazune there to protect them, to follow in his footsteps…With hardly any explanation of how to do so. They had stumbled along without him, just barely managing to survive at all, cleaning up after the mess he had left.

He didn't deserve to come back. He shouldn't be there – he shouldn't get a warm welcome after all that he had done to them. As far as Kazune was concerned, he had every right to hate the man. Karin did, too, if she knew enough to do so… and by the way that she had just reacted, he had a dreadful suspicion that she just might.

But that was impossible as well. Karin didn't have any memories of her old life. She should only know Kazuto as Professor Kujyou… not anything more than that.

_Certainly not as… _Kazune cut the thought short, unwilling to go any farther.

Sure, she had learned the truth during their last battle with Karasuma, but it never seemed to really register with her. It had never bothered her, or at least, that was what Kazune thought.

After the battle, he had expected her to come to him with all kinds of uncomfortable questions that he would have to try and explain, but she hadn't. She hadn't asked him anything at all, so he assumed that she just didn't want to know. That maybe she was satisfied with her life the way it was. That maybe – just maybe – she was happy enough… with him.

Even though he wasn't really… Even though he could never really be…

Himeka's voice abruptly brought him back to the present, "Kazune-chan? Are you all right?"

She looked confused and upset by her friends' odd behavior. She couldn't be happier about the fact that her dead father was mysteriously standing in their living room with no explanation at all for how he had gotten there.

"Er… Yeah, of course. Just… a little shocked, that's all."

His 'father' spoke up at that. "I'm sorry. This is all very confusing for me, too. I think Kazusa can help piece some of it together for us. But, do you think someone should go after her?" he asked worriedly, obviously referring to Karin. "I mean, she is ill, after all…"

"Of course! I'll go make sure she's okay!" Himeka volunteered, her brow furrowed in worry, and quickly walked off in the direction that Karin had run off to, leaving her father alone with his two clones.

"Is that why you think she's acting this way? Because she's ill?" Kazune sneered once Himeka was out of earshot.

Kazuto looked confused. "Of course I think that. What other explanation is there? She's not in very good shape. She passed out earlier and kept claiming that she was Suzuka…"

Kazune's eyes widened and he was about to say something when Kazusa interrupted.

"But, otou-san…" she chirruped, somewhat nervously. "I've already told you, she _is_ Suzuka."

She paused and Kazuto interjected, "Of course I remember that you said that, but I'm sorry to say that I still think you're a bit mistaken, or maybe just a little confused. As much as she may look like Suzuka, I think you can understand that I'm struggling with the idea that she suddenly appears to be only fourteen years old."

"But it isn't sudden at all. You've come from the past, remember? This is the part I was getting to when we were interrupted…With the aid of the god research, you somehow managed to age her down to a baby once more in order to protect her from Karasuma. You sent her to Japan so that we could keep an eye on her in your absence, and so that she could someday activate the powers of Athena's ring.

Her memories were wiped and she grew up again in anonymity with an adoptive family of your choosing. Until very recently, she was completely ignorant of her true identity. However it seems that, as of late, she has been gaining more of her memories back than we believed she would. I'm not sure what that means, or why, but perhaps it is somehow connected to your arrival here…"

"Wait, what?" Kazune blurted out after his sister had finished this speech. "How do you know she's been getting her memory back?"

Kazusa turned her misted blue eyes on her brother, "Because I've been watching her carefully for something like this."

"Kazusa…" Kazuto began, and she turned her attention away from Kazune and back to him. "Can you tell me why I would do such a thing to my wife? Even if she were in danger… surely there must have been a different way? Surely something as drastic as that would be the very last resort? I would never willingly put her in a situation like that!"

Kazusa shook her head slowly, her white bunny ears swaying with the movement. "I'm sorry, I do not know the answer to that question. Only you would know. Or rather, the version of yourself that has knowledge of these things."

Although Kazusa obviously meant no harm by it, Kazuto smiled at the almost-insult hidden in her words, "Of course. If only I knew where to find him, I would ask him."

"Or… perhaps you could ask Karin?" Kazusa suggested, a touch of humor sparkling deep within her eyes. She knew exactly how her brother would react.

"Of course not! Out of the question!" Kazune fumed. "Leave her out of this! Hasn't she been through enough already!?"

"I believe Kazusa was joking, Kazune…" Kazuto informed him lightly, sharing a knowing look with the female twin. Apparently she had 'inherited' his subtle sense of humor… and Kazune had obviously inherited none of it.

In just the few minutes that Kazuto had had to observe his counterpart, he was surprised to note how much Kazune had developed into his own separate personality. There were some similarities, yes, but for the most part his clone seemed to be an entirely different man than the one he had been split from.

"Joking or not, I don't want you anywhere near her, whoever you are! She's ill right now – this kind of stress will only make her worse!"

Kazuto looked shocked at this outburst, and was momentarily at a loss for what to say.

Kazusa, however, was abruptly serious again as she turned back to her brother, "Kazune-sama, I know that you worry about her, but Karin-sama is strong. Stronger than you sometimes give her credit for. She will be fine. I know it."

Kazune locked gazes with his sister, gauging the intensity of her faith in Karin, and he felt his own anger begin to falter. He tried to communicate to her non-verbally that it wasn't Karin whom he didn't trust – it was the man standing next to them.

Even if he _was_ really some form of Professor Kujyou, time-traveled here from the past, what was he doing here? Why didn't he know more? It was as if he had come back from the dead, and _still _didn't have any answers for them. There were so many times that Kazune wished he could speak to him, to ask him for answers to the very questions that Kazuto was asking of his sister… Why _were_ they all here? Why had he done this to them? Howdesperatemust he have been? And what exactly happened in the past to set it all in motion? This Professor Kujyou didn't know these things any more than they did. And that fact was both frustrating and bitterly disappointing at the same time.

It was at that moment that Himeka re-entered the room, looking very sad.

"I can't find Karin-chan."

"What do you mean you can't find her? She couldn't have left the house, she would have had to go past us!" Kazune wasn't normally this irritable with Himeka, but he was running on a short fuse right now.

Himeka turned her sad eyes on him, frowning, "I looked and looked, but I couldn't find her anywhere. I called her name so many times… she didn't respond. I'm worried about her, Kazune-chan. She looked so upset… I just don't understand why."

Before anyone could respond, the front door slammed in the entryway and all of them turned to the sound, "KAZUUNEEE-KUUN! HIIMEKKAA-CHAANN! HANAZONO-SAANN! I'M HOOOME!" Micchi called out in a loud, cheerful sing-song, his voice echoing through the halls of the gigantic house.

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><p><em>AN: Look everyone, I finally updated this story! Not sure if any of my previous readers are going to find this again, but if you have, thanks so much for coming back, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter! If you have just discovered this story, welcome, and thank you for reading too! All reviews are welcome, as long as they are coherent and actually have a purpose! I love nothing more than discussing my story with readers, so if you have questions/comments/concerns/rants, please, fire away!_

_Thanks again for visiting, and talk to you next time (hopefully sooner than the last!)_

_Bonne lecture!_

_Yours,_

_- K.K._


	5. Chapter 5

_Disclaimer: I do not own Kamichama Karin, or the quote that follows._

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><p>"<em>The whole series of my life appeared to me as a dream; I sometimes doubted if indeed it were all true, for it never presented itself to my mind with the force of reality." <em>

**Chapter 5**

She stepped into the foyer of the gigantic house, talking a hundred miles per hour. The baby girl bundled in a blanket in her arms was awake but quiet, staring around her curiously with her bright eyes. Meanwhile her mother was exclaiming about the gardens, how huge the place was, how it didn't seem so big in the pictures, and, "Can we really afford this?"

Her husband entered behind her, lugging a giant suitcase. "We're just renting it for now, remember? It needs a little work still. No one's lived here for a long time – I guess not many people are willing to take on such a monstrous house. But it was the only place with a big enough basement to house all of my equipment, so here we are."

He looked at her shrewdly as she gazed around at the crown moldings and musty carpets and antique wallpaper, and was surprised that for once he couldn't tell what she was thinking.

"What's wrong? Don't you like it?"

She glanced at him in surprise. "Yes, of course I like it! You know I love old houses! It sort of reminds me of the house I grew up in…You know, the first one, the one I really liked."

"Good. I'm glad." Kazuto Kujyou swept his dark hair out of his face, then said casually, "Once Himeka can walk, I think she will love exploring this place, don't you?"

That did it. Suzuka turned her head sharply. "Himeka's going to learn to walk here? Kazuto…"

"Won't you like to move back to Japan, darling? You'll be closer to your family –"

"That's not much of an incentive," she muttered, but he pretended that he hadn't heard her.

"Himeka will go to a Japanese school like we did – there's a really nice one not far from here – and have the same culture around her as we did… And the university here is offering me an excellent position. In a few years, maybe even tenure."

She could tell he was excited about this opportunity, but she wished he would have mentioned this a little sooner. When she had gone to London for her secondary education, she had fallen in love with the city, and never expected to move back to Japan again. What luck that she had also fallen in love with a brilliant Japanese medical student who wanted to teach at their English university. What had happened to that dream?

But it didn't matter – she would follow Kazuto Kujyou to the ends of the earth, and she knew it. If he wanted to teach in the middle of the Nairobi desert, she would be there.

"But London has been our home for so long!" Suzuka protested, as he knew she would. "What about our adorable house there? That was where I always pictured Himeka learning to walk."

Kazuto sighed. "Home is where the heart is, love. We can make a home anywhere, as long as we're together, right?"

"Right," she agreed, a little glumly.

"Look, nothing is permanent yet," he added, hoping to cheer her up. He hated to see that look on her face. Maybe they should have talked about this more before they left England? "I'm not even sure I'm going to get the job. Let's just try it here for a while, and if you decide you don't like it, we'll move to back to London, all right?"

"Okay."

Then he thought of something that would take her mind off of relocating entirely.

"I think you'll like it here, though," he said slyly. "Just wait until you meet our butler."

Suzuka's eyes widened. "We have a _butler_?"

Then everything shifted again, only this time it was not a single memory that grabbed her and pulled her in. Suddenly, a torrent of images was flashing before her eyes, speeding backwards from the last memory all the way to her childhood. It was exactly like the old cliché of having your life flash before your eyes. Only it wasn't the life she was living now that she was seeing. It was the life she had led before it, the one she had been forced to forget.

And with each passing image, with each memory that finally found its way back to her, she felt the stab of emotion that came along with it. Some of them were joyful, rapturous even, and some were bittersweet. Some were sad, and some were downright painful. But all of them were of a pivotal moment in her life, something that had been important to her at one time; and all of them had been taken away from her.

She remembered buying their house, and she remembered when Himeka was born, and she remembered marrying Kazuto, and she remembered falling in love with him. She remembered the first time they met, and she remembered stepping off the airplane and arriving in London for the first time. She remembered getting her acceptance letter to the university.

She remembered other first dates and the first and only time her heart had been broken (Over some silly boy whose name she still couldn't even remember. She hadn't really been in love with him, anyway. She hadn't known what love was then.) How she had cried alone in her room, and the next day lied and said she was sick so she wouldn't have to go to school and face him. She had never told her mother about it. She would have just laughed.

And before that, it was holidays and birthdays spent with her family, her mother and father. She was saddened to find, though, that she did not have very many fond memories of them.

Her father was a good man, but he was away a lot, traveling on business.

Her mother was shrill and proud, and the gossip was that she had married Suzuka's father for his connections and his old money, rather than because she loved him. To her, it was a blessing that he was always away.

As for her daughter, her only concern was that she made good grades in school, conducted herself well in public, married someone rich and well-connected, and brought honor to their family. And according to her, Suzuka only ever accomplished two out of four. Her mother had never liked Kazuto. Although he was brilliant, and his career looked promising, he was not from a rich family, and had absolutely no important connections whatsoever. In other words, an utter disappointment.

And although Suzuka's family was rich – she had always received the best of everything, always went to the best schools, always got the nicest presents, and had plenty of 'friends' who wanted a piece of it – her childhood was never very happy. The happiest years of her life were when she was with Kazuto.

Her family had never had a butler, either. What would her mother have thought of that?

Then everything changed once more, and Karin was walking alone through negative space. A banner of stars stretched above her and below her, and beneath her feet there was no floor. Yet it was solid, and as she walked along, she had to maneuver around several jagged, black rocks that jutted up from the ground (or was it the sky?)

"Huh? Where am I?" she asked to no one. At least, she thought to no one. But to her surprise, someone answered.

"You're in the place where time and existence meet."

Karin spun around to face the voice, and then nearly lost her balance when she saw who it was. The woman was fairly tall and slender, with dark blonde hair that fell to the middle of her back, and teal eyes that watched her with amusement.

"Wh-Who are you?" Karin stuttered, although she had a strong feeling that she already knew the answer.

The woman smiled, giggling slightly, "You mean you can't tell? I really didn't think I looked _that _different…"

Her smile faded as quickly as it had come as she continued, "But I suppose I shouldn't be joking at a time like this. After all, this is quite serious."

"What is quite serious?" Karin asked, a little worriedly.

"Hold on," the woman said, "one question at a time. First of all, I'm you."

"I already knew that," Karin muttered. "But which me are you? Karin-me or Suzuka-me? Because I've seen both recently and I'm starting to get them mixed up…"

Karin didn't pause to think about the oddity of that sentence, trusting that she, the other Karin, would understand.

"I know you are… and that is part of why this is so serious," the older Karin answered. Then she brought a finger to her lips thoughtfully as she said, "And just to be clear, I am Karin-you, from the future, although we are both still technically Suzuka as well… Only, not from the past. Does that make sense?"

"No," present Karin said bluntly.

Future Karin nodded, laughing again. "It is all pretty confusing, isn't it? I get a little mixed up sometimes even now. But it will get better… with time."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. All of this isn't what I'm here to talk to you about, though, Karin. We are actually never supposed to meet, but I had to risk it in order to reach you in time. I have come to deliver a message."

"A message?"

"Yes. And it is very, very important, so listen carefully –"

Future Karin was cut off as a sudden chiming boomed out of the darkness, shaking the very world around them like an earthquake. Present Karin stumbled and fell to her knees, but Future Karin remained on her feet.

A long fissure appeared in the sky, like a tear in a piece of fabric, and through it they could see a gigantic clock tower looming above them, looking like an oversized and multicolored replica of Big Ben. Future Karin's eyes widened.

"No! Not yet! I need more time!"

"Mama!" a little voice called, and suddenly Suzune came running out of nowhere, clutching what appeared to be a heart-shaped clock in his tiny hands.

"Suzune!" Future Karin ran forward to meet him, her face white. "Suzune, what are you doing here? I told you to stay home!"

"Suzune-kun?" Present Karin had frozen in shock and began stammering incoherently as she connected the dots, "You're her… You're his… He's my…"

But Future Karin wasn't paying any attention to her anymore.

"Suzune, you have to go back!" she was saying urgently, "It's too dangerous!"

"But Mama, something's wrong with the clock! Look!"

He held up the Chronos clock, and sure enough, it was giving off a high-pitched, alarm-clock-like chiming of its own. The moment Future Karin took it from his hands, the clock tower above them gave another bone-rattling peal, and more cracks appeared across the sky. Suzune cried out in fear and clung to his mother. She instinctively wrapped an arm around him but otherwise remained motionless, her face going, if possible, even paler as she looked down at the clock vibrating wildly in her hands.

Then she looked up at the younger version of herself, her eyes wide and fearful. "Karin! You're almost out of time!"

"What?" Karin shouted, confused and afraid. She had no idea what was going on, and she wished that clock would stop breaking everything apart! Maybe then she could think!

"You have to go back, and you have to fix this! You're the only one who can! I can't help you, I have to get Suzune back to our own time before –"

The giant clock chimed again, and this time several chunks of stars became dislodged from the sky and crashed down around them like giant boulders. Karin screamed, and Future Karin threw herself over Suzune and held him tight to her until the shaking stopped.

"Go, Karin!" she shouted over the noise of the crumbling sky, "You have until midnight! If you don't fix this in time, we'll disappear!"

"Disappear? What do you mean, disappear?" Karin shouted back, but she didn't get an answer. At that moment, the floor gave way beneath her, and suddenly she was falling through the open sky.

The last thing she heard was her own voice crying desperately, "Please, you have to help us, Karin! Wake up!"

_Wake up!_

_Wake up…_

"Karin? Wake up! Karin!"

She felt the shaking again and wondered if the world was still crumbling around her. Maybe she should stay here and wait for it to stop?

"Karin, come on! What are you doing here on the floor? We've been looking for you forever! Have you been here the whole time?"

Then another voice said, "Kazune-chan, don't be so rough with her! She's ill, remember?"

So it wasn't another earthquake after all. It was Kazune, shaking her awake.

"I'm not being rough with her!" he protested, and the shaking stopped. "Besides, it feels like her fever's broken – she'll be fine."

Karin finally opened her eyes and saw that she was lying on the floor, with Kazune, Himeka, and Shii-chan all hovering over her worriedly. Her rescue party. Had it really taken them so long to find her? What was she doing on the floor? She couldn't even remember how she had gotten here. It felt like she had been gone for hours… Had she really just been lying here the whole time?

Karin sat up abruptly despite her friends' protests not to, and immediately regretted it. Her head spun dizzyingly and she was glad that she was already seated on the floor, otherwise she probably would have fallen down. She rubbed her head and tried to shake herself out of that vivid nightmare. She knew it was just a crazy fever dream, but it had left her feeling weak and shaken nonetheless.

"She still doesn't look so good, nya," Shii-chan meowed as Karin sat staring dumbly at them like a mental patient.

"You're right," Kazune commented. "Come on, Karin, you probably need to lie down for a while..."

He offered her a hand to help her up, but she didn't take it. She kept staring blankly ahead as things began rushing back to her in pieces. All of the scattered images in the dream, the memories, flashing back at her one at a time like cue cards.

Then she remembered what happened before she passed out in here, how she had run away crying, and suddenly the reason for it burst forward clear as day. So many other pieces started to line up, and all at once she realized that there was only one thing for her to do.

"Where's Kazuto?" she asked into the silence.

Kazune's eyes narrowed. "You mean Professor Kujyou?"

Karin nodded and looked up at him. "Where is he? I need to talk to him."

"Why?"

"Can you just take me to him? Please?" Karin got to her feet, looking determined.

Kazune didn't move, and continued to look wary. "Maybe I was wrong. Maybe your fever hasn't broken yet."

"No," Karin protested, "it has! I'm fine, I swear! But it's very, very important that I speak to him!"

Himeka also got to her feet, looking concerned. "I'll go get him then," she said, but Kazune stopped her.

"No," he ordered swiftly. "Himeka, I don't think we should let her see him."

"Why?" Himeka asked, and Karin demanded in unison.

"Because, you should be resting! I don't think it's healthy how worked up you're getting over this, especially right now, while your defenses are low!"

Karin just stared at him. A man that they all knew to be dead had simply materialized in their hallway that morning and Kazune was expecting them all to be perfectly calm about it? Was he out of his mind?

But all of that was unimportant at the moment. Karin was past the point of questioning everything; at this very moment, she only knew that it was absolutely imperative that she speak to her husband immediately, and no one was going to get in her way!

Wait… her husband? Oh well, she would wonder about that later, too.

Ignoring Kazune's protests and threats, and Himeka's offers to help, Karin pushed past her friends and marched out of the room, leaving all of them to stare after her.

"Karin-chan?" Shii-chan questioned uselessly. "What's gotten into her all of a sudden, nya?"

Himeka just shrugged her shoulders, looking worried. Kazune, however, ran after her, calling "Karin! Wait up!"

Out in the hallway, Karin looked down at her pajama-clad self and made a detour to her room to change. Kazune stopped outside her door, not daring to believe that she had actually listened to him and was going to bed. Of course, that wasn't it, and Karin emerged a minute later in fresh clothes, looking much more like herself – except for that strange glint in her eye that worried him so much. That was still there.

Then he was following closely behind her as she set out looking for Professor Kujyou, ignoring all of his complaints and supplications to cease and desist.

When she had searched the entire downstairs and could not find him, Karin began to panic. What if he was gone? What if he had disappeared and gone back to the past before she could talk to him?

When she voiced some of these concerns aloud, however, Kazune bleakly pointed out that Micchi and Kazusa were gone too, and perhaps they all went somewhere together.

"O-Of course! You're right. That has to be it. They'll be back any minute," Karin said, her voice high with anxiety. Kazune rolled his eyes. She was acting so strange.

The two of them were standing across the room from each other in the basement office, Karin ringing her hands nervously while Kazune stood with his arms crossed, scowling. A minute passed in silence, then another.

Then Karin said, "You know, Kazune, perhaps you should go wait upstairs? Himeka's probably wondering where you are… then if you see Kazuto you can tell him I'm down here waiting for him, okay?"

Kazune turned his eyes on her in disbelief and didn't move. Was she really trying to get rid of him? What was all of this about? He shook his head.

"No way. I'm staying right here."

"B-But –" Karin started to say, but he held up a hand to stop her.

"Nope. Save your breath. You aren't going to convince me. Whatever you have to say to him, you can say in front of me."

Kazune turned away from her, and Karin knew that it was no use. When Kazune was on a stubborn streak, nothing could change his mind. Didn't he see that she was only trying to protect his feelings? She knew he wasn't going to like what she had to say. But if he truly wanted to stay, there was nothing she could do to make him go.

Honestly, Kazune didn't even want Karin in the same room with Professor Kujyou. In fact, he was secretly hoping that he _had_ gone back to the past, never to return to this time again. But even Kazune had to admit that it was odd for Professor Kujyou to have turned up here, and for the first time it crossed his mind that maybe something had gone wrong. He had been so worried about Karin that he wasn't thinking straight. Things like this didn't just happen for no reason. What if there was something they needed to take care of? But without kamika rings, how could they?

Hopefully Nishikiori had kept a more level head and was trying to get to the bottom of it right now. But who was he kidding? Micchi had practically had a panic attack when he walked through the door and saw Professor Kujyou standing there. He thought he was hallucinating, or had gone mad. Then he had sunk down onto the couch like he was going to faint. It had taken Himeka, Kazusa, and Professor Kujyou nearly ten minutes to calm him down enough to listen to their explanations.

Then his father had smiled and made some joke about how he never received such strong reactions at home, and they were making him feel like some sort of idol or something. Micchi had laughed at that, even though it wasn't very funny, and started asking questions. To everyone's surprise, Kazusa started answering most of them. Kazune was amazed at the change that had come over her, how she had just taken charge of the situation; it seemed like, with her otou-sama (as she called him) there, she was a whole different person. She had a quiet confidence about her, and a bright spark in her eye he had never seen there before.

But Kazune couldn't help worrying about her. He couldn't remember the last time she had stayed so long in her human form, and he hoped she wasn't going to wear herself out. Even so, she could take care of herself. Karin, with her mid-grade fever and obvious distress, had been his number one priority at the moment. So he had only placed a brotherly hand on Kazusa's shoulder in warning, waited until she nodded back at him, and then left with Himeka to find Karin.

Even with Shii-chan's help, though, it had still taken them a long time to find her. It was like a game of hide and seek gone horribly wrong. They called her name over and over, but she wouldn't (or couldn't) respond.

Then, finally, after over an hour of searching, Shii-chan found her curled up on the floor, apparently asleep and half-hidden underneath a large oak desk, and blocked from view on another side by a tall chest of drawers.

He was very worried about her. She hadn't been acting like herself. Now as he watched her pacing the office, he wondered just how much things had already changed...

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><p><em>(AN): Hello, dear readers! This was sort of a strange chapter, wasn't it? I'm curious about what you guys thought about the dream sequences. Do you think Karin should have taken her dream and the warning from her future self more seriously? Or was it really just caused by her illness? And what about all of those flashbacks – does this mean she remembers everything? And where does all of this leave Kazune?_

_Come back soon for more answers… and possibly a few more questions! ;) _

_As always, if you enjoyed this chapter, please don't be shy: take a minute and write a quick review. If you are signed in, I will always respond! Thank you for reading!_

_Until next time,_

_- K.K._


	6. Chapter 6

_Disclaimer: Ditto._

**Chapter 6**

_"But I now indulge in dreams of bliss that cannot be realised... crush sensation and memory; let me become as nought; but if not, depart, and leave me in darkness…"_

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><p>Karin paced the office, struggling to control her thoughts. She was trying to sort through all of the memories that crashed over her wave by wave, but finally it became too overwhelming and she had to give up. Then she wondered what she was going to say to Kazuto when he returned, but that was making her panic as well. The words kept reverberating in her head: <em>If you don't fix this in time, we'll disappear!<em>

But what did that mean? What did she have to fix? And how was she supposed to do anything when she didn't even know what it was she had to do? All she knew was that she had to talk to Kazuto. But it was all so confusing!

And on top of it all, in the back of her head she could hear the steady _tick tick tick_-ing of the clock, making her want to scream.

_You're running out of time…_

To calm herself down, Karin took a deep breath, and decided to try something she had learned in a class once: in confusing and overwhelming times, recite basic facts about yourself, things that are static and never change.

She started like this: My name is Karin Hanazono. I have a cat named Shii-chan. I am fourteen years old. My birthday is July 3rd, 1990. My best friends' names are Himeka, Kazune, and Micchi…

But it kept turning into: My name is Suzuka Sakura Hanazono Kujyou. I have a daughter named Himeka. My husband's name is Kazuto Kujyou. We were married on April 14th, 1989. My real birthday is on March 12th, 1968…

Karin stopped pacing. This was insane. She was having a full-scale, more-literal-than-it-should-ever-be identity crisis, and up until a couple of hours ago she hadn't even known what that _was_ – let alone that it would be happening to her at only fourteen!

_Actually, you're technically thirty-six_, a little voice that was much quicker at subtraction than her whispered.

No! No, of course she wasn't! That would just be ridiculous! And she certainly wasn't talking to herself! Her head started to spin and she worried that she was about to pass out again.

Kazune noticed the change in her and asked, "Karin? Are you all right?"

He had been watching her walking back and forth behind the desk, becoming more agitated with every step until finally she stopped, swaying a little on the spot. He moved closer, prepared to catch her if she should suddenly collapse. But Karin just shook her head quickly, as if trying to get rid of an irksome fly, and did not look at him.

"Yep, I'm fine," she said distantly, and resumed her pacing.

Kazune frowned. Why wouldn't she talk to him? Did she really think he had no idea what she was going through? Or did she just not want him involved? He felt so helpless, and he didn't like it one bit. So instead of standing around moping about it any longer, he at last decided to take action.

"Karin, why won't you talk to me?"

He had tried to keep his tone neutral, but it still came out sounding frustratingly whiny. He chose to ignore that, praying that she would at least answer him. To his dismay, however, she only shook her head again, still not looking at him.

"Karin, please…" he tried again, but this time she interrupted him.

"That's not my name," she said flatly.

Kazune stared at her in shock. "What?" he asked blankly.

Her green eyes glanced his way, and she repeated somewhat impatiently, "I said, that's not my name."

_Oh God,_ Kazune thought, _she doesn't actually believe she's Suzuka, does she?_

If she did, then this was much worse than he'd thought. He decided to try a different tactic.

"Don't be an idiot, of course it's your name!"

She paused and looked up at him, her eyes flashing.

"Don't speak to me like that!"

Oh no. This was not Karin. And something was terribly, terribly wrong. Where had Professor Kujyou gotten off to? Maybe he could turn her back? That is, if he didn't make her worse…

Kazune didn't have to wait very long to find out, because at that moment they heard footsteps on the stairs. Karin looked to the door expectantly, but Kazune kept his back to it, frowning ill-humoredly.

Then Micchi and Kazuto Kujyou entered the room, followed by Kazusa, still in her human form, and Himeka, holding a wide-eyed Shii-chan in her arms. None of them looked surprised to see the two of them already there. Himeka must have told her father that Karin was looking for him.

Kazune scrutinized Kazusa, and noticed that she was looking decidedly more weary than the last time he saw her. Before anyone else could speak he said swiftly, "Kazusa, you should rest. I'll take it from here."

Kazusa nodded gratefully, and with a soft tinkling like wind chimes, she returned to her bird form and flew up to perch on one of the high bookshelves where she could still see and hear everything going on down below. Kazune smirked. He was foolish to think that she would have gone to the tanks and barricaded herself in with so much happening out here.

Then Himeka said, "Karin-chan, you're looking much better! Are you going to be all right now?"

Karin turned her eyes on Himeka, and a strange sort of shiver passed over her face. For a moment it looked as if she was not going to answer, but then she nodded.

"Yeah, of course. I'm fine," she said in a high-pitched, overly-pleasant voice, and gave a small smile as if to show Himeka that she was telling the truth, even though she wasn't. Apparently she wasn't very convincing, because Micchi shot Kazune a look, and received an identical grim look in return, and Himeka knitted her dark brows worriedly, a tiny frown appearing on her face.

Karin's eyes flitted between Himeka and Professor Kujyou, then she said quickly, "Himeka, why don't you call Kyuu-chan and see how he's doing with his friend in Kahoku?"

The butler had taken a long weekend off and would be returning the next day. He was not going to believe what had happened while he was away.

Himeka blinked. "What? Right now?"

Karin nodded again.

But Himeka wasn't fooled. Her frown grew wider as she said, "Are you trying to get rid of me or something?"

When Karin didn't answer, Himeka downright scowled. Then she said, a little heatedly, "You know, Karin? I expect this from Kazune-chan, but not from you! Did you ever think I might be getting tired of always being left out of everything? I want to know what's going on, too! You don't have to keep protecting me all the time, I'm not in danger of disappearing anymore, remember? And I'm not a child, so you should stop treating me like one!"

Karin's eyes widened and she paled as if Himeka had just slapped her in the face. Himeka herself looked both surprised and guilty at her own outburst, and dropped her eyes. At last she mumbled, "But if you really want me to go, I'll go."

Then Professor Kujyou spoke, for the first time since entering the room. He had been studying Karin the whole time, and now he seemed to have reached some sort of conclusion.

"Perhaps… perhaps you should all go. I think I need to speak to Karin alone."

Karin looked at him in surprise. That was exactly what she wanted. How did he know?

But Kazune was immovable, and repeated the same words he had said earlier, "Whatever you have to say to Karin, you can say in front of me." He still had his stubborn pose locked in tight, arms crossed and face unreadable.

Kazuto glanced at him amusedly and conceded, "Fair enough."

Then he looked to his daughter and the boy whose life he had apparently saved. "Himeka? Michiru? Any objections?"

Micchi shook his head and gave a short, respectful bow, then grabbed Himeka by the shoulder, saying cheerfully, "Come on, Himeka-chan. Let's go… make everyone some tea, shall we?"

But Himeka didn't move. She just raised her eyebrows coolly at her father in a way that reminded him very much of an expression her mother had used on him many times. And judging by the look that crossed Kazune's face, he had recognized it, too.

Kazuto smiled gently and said, "I promise I'll tell you everything you want to know in a little while, all right? I just have to figure some things out for myself first."

Himeka finally nodded and turned to go, giving Kazune and Karin one last glance before she did. It hadn't escaped Kazune's notice that Himeka had turned to Professor Kujyou where she once would have turned to him. And why shouldn't she? He was her real father. Kazune was just a clone of her father. So it shouldn't have bothered him… right?

Micchi led the way up the stairs, but couldn't resist throwing one last curious glance back at Karin before he left. Then he turned to Kazune with a look that said, _I want to know everything, so you'd better tell me later!_

They were not out the door, however, before a meowing yell echoed down to them, "What about me? Why can't I stay? I'm a goddess too, you know! The powerful goddess Nya-ke!"

Himeka responded tartly, "If I can't stay, you can't stay, goddess or not!"

Micchi laughed, then the basement door closed and they were gone.

Kazuto turned to Kazune curiously.

"The cat talks? And thinks she's a goddess?"

"Well, she is a goddess, sort of. She's Karin's guardian. Long story…"

Kazune glanced up, but Kazusa had disappeared. Although he hadn't heard her leave, so she had probably just found a cubby to hide in, where she could be out of sight but still listen.

Then both Kujyous, clone and original, turned back to Karin, who had been frozen in place like a statue since Himeka had nearly yelled at her (or the closest thing Himeka had ever done to yelling in her life, anyway). Now Karin finally moved to sink down into a chair that stood close by against the wall, and buried her face in her hands, her long blonde hair falling forward, hiding her from view.

Now she wished that they had all left, so that she could just sit here alone and cry. Her emotions were going haywire. Her daughter had looked at her like she hated her. All because she didn't need to be protected anymore, and didn't want to be seen as a child. But didn't she know that that was impossible? It was impossible for her to stop trying to protect her. And how could she ignore the primal voice in her head that screamed, _But you ARE a child! You will always be a child to me! That's the only way I can see you! I'm your _mother_!_

But she couldn't tell her any of that. Because although she knew now that she was Himeka's biological mother, that was yet another fact that they all tried very hard to ignore. Because right now, she was not Suzuka Kujyou – she was Karin Hanazono, a fourteen year old girl, and paradoxically not old enough to have a fourteen year old daughter. But she did, and that was the truth, even if no one wanted to admit it – not even herself.

Quiet footsteps approached her, and she felt someone kneel down in front of her, although she did not remove her hands from her face. Then that voice that she knew so well asked, "She doesn't know?"

The question was not directed at her.

"Who? Himeka?" Kazune asked grudgingly. "No, I haven't told her. I was afraid it would only cause problems. For both of them."

Kazuto nodded.

Then he said, more quietly, as if only she would be able to hear him, "I'm sorry she spoke to you that way. But you heard Kazune. She doesn't know. She didn't know that she was hurting you, otherwise she would never have said it."

Karin peered through her fingers at him in surprise. "I thought you didn't believe me?" she muttered.

He reached up and gently pulled her hands away from her face. "You finally convinced me."

"Convinced you of what, exactly?" Kazune asked defensively, fearing the worst. None of this was good for Karin. She shouldn't have to deal with this sort of thing, especially while she was ill. They both looked at him, almost as if they had forgotten he was there.

Kazuto hesitated, then asked, "She really is Suzuka, isn't she, Kazune?"

Kazune didn't respond. What could he say? To deny it would be a bold-faced lie, and for some reason he did not have it in him to confirm it. He somehow felt that to do so would be to hand her over, admit defeat, lose her forever… and he could never do that, not in a million years.

Finally he said, "I'm not sure this is a good idea. Karin is still confused. She's ill. She should be resting."

"I told you not to call me that," she broke in, before Professor Kujyou could respond. "And I'm feeling fine now. Kazuto, I –"

She stopped abruptly as he brought a hand up to her face, feeling her temperature.

"Your fever _has_ gone down," he said thoughtfully. "And you do seem better from when I saw you last." Then he realized that she had said his name again. "Sorry, what were you saying?"

Kazune shook his head sharply and interrupted her yet again.

"No, she isn't better! She's being downright weird! First she ran off like that and we couldn't find her – although I suppose I can't blame her so much for that one – then the second she comes to after we find her unconscious on the floor, she's demanding to speak to you. Now she keeps telling me not to call her Karin, to call her Suzuka, which she knows perfectly well is not her name anymore, and is probably only doing it to annoy me! She's obviously still delusional!"

When Kazune had finished this rant, Kazuto looked at her curiously. "Is this true? Did you tell him to call you Suzuka?"

"Yes. And despite what Kazune says, I happen to know that that _is_ my name. It's the name I was born with, anyway. Isn't that right?"

"Yes… I suppose _technically_ it is," Kazune responded icily. "But that isn't the name you go by anymore!"

"Hold on, Kazune," Kazuto said mildly. "I believe you're missing the point." He turned back to address the girl in front of him. "Do you want us to call you Suzuka or Karin?"

"Suzuka," she answered promptly.

"Is that because you don't _want _to be Karin anymore?" Kazuto asked.

Kazune started to interject angrily, "What are you talking about? Of course she –" but Professor Kujyou held up a hand, stopping him.

"Or," he continued, "do you want to be Suzuka more?"

Karin blinked. She hadn't thought of it that way. "I – I'm not sure."

"See?" Kazune cried triumphantly, "She's confused! She doesn't know what she's talking about!"

Kazuto's eyes flashed angrily as he said, "I have no doubt that she is confused, Kazune. That's why I'm giving her the opportunity to figure it out. However if you are going to keep interrupting and making this harder for her then it already is, I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

Kazune fell silent at that, looking as if he had just tasted something sour, although he made no move to leave.

Meanwhile Karin didn't seem to be paying attention to either of them, lost in some internal dialogue of her own. So when Kazuto turned back to her and asked kindly, "What do you think, Suzuka?" she had lost thread of the conversation, and merely blurted out what was bothering her most at that moment.

"I think… I think that my daughter hates me."

She gave a sniffle and wiped at her teary eyes.

"Your daughter?" Kazuto and Kazune asked at the same time, although in very different tones. Kazune was indignant, wanting to know since when had she been referring to Himeka as her daughter? How long had this been going on without him knowing? And how much, exactly, was she remembering?

Kazuto, on the other hand, had a very different reason for asking.

"She doesn't hate you," he assured her, "she was just upset. But since when is she only your daughter? I thought she was my daughter too?"

Kazune stared at him in shock, but he was only looking at her, an amused expression on his face as he gauged her reaction. This was a test, to see how much she remembered. And if she did get the inside joke, he hoped that she would laugh, and take the storm clouds out of her eyes. How wrong he was.

She did remember, of course, but she did not laugh. If anything her face only grew darker. Then she said flatly, "No. She's my daughter. She stopped being your daughter a long time ago."

Kazuto flinched and struggled to keep his voice even as he asked, "What do you mean?"

Suzuka answered in a monotone, but there was anger flaring in her eyes as she muttered, "You abandoned us."

Those words pierced his heart like a hot iron. "No," he said immediately, "No, that isn't true! I wouldn't –"

"Yes, you did," she cut across him, her voice growing louder. "Not only did you leave us here to protect her on our own, you abandoned me and Himeka long before that!"

"No…"

She got to her feet, her hands shaking visibly as she balled them into fists.

"You left us as soon as you started this damn research! And in the end, you chose _them_ over us!" She jerked head in Kazune's direction, who was standing perfectly still, his face blank, hardly believing what he was hearing.

Then Karin marched away from them both, and was halfway across the room before she turned back around. There were angry tears streaming down her face now as she growled, "And if you think I'm just going to forgive you for taking me away from Himeka and endangering our family for a couple of magic rings… you're not nearly as smart as I thought you were."

Kazuto had straightened up, and could do nothing more than stare at her desperately.

"I'm sorry," he managed to whisper before she had turned around and left, slamming the door as hard as she could behind her. 

* * *

><p><em>(AN): Wow, drama! I hope everyone has been able to keep up so far… The dynamics of these relationships are more than a little confusing, but that is exactly the reason why I am so intrigued by them. _

_Honestly, I found it sort of disappointing that in the anime, manga, or otherwise, nobody ever seemed to want to confront the fact that Karin is technically Himeka's biological mother, or that she was actually married to Professor Kazuto Kujyou before Kazune was even a thought. That is a large part of the reason why I have been compelled to write this story, to expound upon and provide a different point of view on an almost totally ignored aspect of this anime. To sum it up, there is one thing that should be obvious about this fic by now: I'm not shying away from any prickly subjects, no matter how dark, so buckle up!_

_P.S. I just wanted to send out a special thank you to the few people who have reviewed this story so far! Knowing that someone is reading and enjoying your story is the most wonderful payment a writer could ask for - and if you look at the dates, you'll see that the reviews I have received have directly affected how fast I've been updating! So, if you ever want this story to get finished, please keep writing to me! (Yes, that is a threat! ;])_

_Much Love to All,_

_- K.K._


	7. Chapter 7

_Disclaimer: I do not own anything you recognize below. As usual._

**Chapter 7**

_"Learn from me - if not be my precepts, at least by my example - of how dangerous is the acquirement of knowledge, and how much happier that man is who believes his native town to be the whole world, than he who aspires to become greater than his nature will allow."_

* * *

><p>After Karin had left the room, there was a heavy silence. Neither of them looked at each other.<p>

Then Kazuto asked quite suddenly, "Do you love her?"

Kazune didn't reply right away, and kept his eyes trained on the floor. How could he answer such a question? _Yes, I love your wife. But you shouldn't be mad at me because it's your fault, and she's my age now anyway, and she isn't supposed to remember you._

Finally he just said, "I don't have any choice."

There was another pause.

"What do you mean?"

Kazune's eyes flickered angrily. "I never had a choice. Not with any of it. I don't have free will like normal people do. My fate has been predetermined for me – by you."

"Kazune… that can't be right. I never intended –"

"She was right, you know?" Kazune said abruptly, cutting him off. "Maybe it's unfair of me to tell you this, since, strictly speaking, you haven't done it yet, but you _did_ abandon us. And I was left here alone, to protect them both. Suddenly the whole world was on my shoulders and I had no choice but to carry it. I had to take your place – do you understand? Everything that you left unfinished, all of the messes you created, I was the one left here to clean them up! I hardly even knew how! And to top it all off I'm not even finished! I'm incomplete! Do you have any idea how hard it's been!?"

Kazuto was silent. He could tell that Kazune needed to say these things, so he let him continue, even though it hurt him to hear it. _How could everything have gone so wrong?_

"When Karin showed up," Kazune went on, "I thought it would get a little easier. Finally I had someone else on my side, someone to share this burden with. I hadn't considered –"

Kazune trailed off.

"Considered what?" Kazuto asked, and when Kazune started speaking again, he could tell that he was lying.

"I hadn't considered that she knew nothing, and that I couldn't tell her. I had to start all over from scratch, and she didn't exactly make it easy, you know! She's a pig-headed woman."

"Why didn't you tell her?"

"What?"

"Why didn't you explain everything right from the start? Why did you wait until Karasuma got to her?"

"How did you –?"

"Michiru told me."

"Oh."

Kazune hesitated. "To be honest, I don't know why I didn't tell her… for the same reason why I didn't tell Himeka, I guess. She didn't need that on her mind as well. Can you imagine what it would be like for someone to tell you that who you thought you were for your entire life was a lie, and in fact you were really someone else? Why would I do that to her? Why would I turn her life upside down like that?"

"You don't think she had a right to know?"

"Of course she did. It was wrong of me to keep it from her, I know that. But… maybe I was hoping I would never have to tell her. What she didn't know couldn't hurt her, right?"

"So you were trying to protect her?"

"Yes! Okay? Yes. I still am. What if she can't deal with this? What if it's too much? What if it tears her apart? What am I supposed to do then, huh? Can you tell me that?"

Kazuto sighed.

"I understand your feelings, Kazune. No, really, I do," he added when he saw the look of disbelief on his clone's face. "But Kazusa was right. She is strong. You just have to believe that she can pull through this… like she always does. Have a little faith. And be there for her as much as you can."

Kazune was surprised at the wisdom of this advice. For a minute it almost felt like he had a father again, someone to guide him through times like these. Too bad it couldn't last.

"I will," he vowed, hardly realizing how much he meant it.

"Thank you," Kazuto said, and Kazune looked taken aback. He hadn't realized he was doing him a favor.

"I'm not doing it for you," he mumbled, a little roughly.

"I know."

Another pause. Then Kazuto said, "You do love her, don't you?"

It wasn't really a question.

"I already told you," Kazune said darkly, "I never had a choice."

Before he could once again ask what he meant, Kazune added, "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go check on her."

He left without another word.

* * *

><p>Karin stood outside in the hallway, replaying everything she had just said. It hadn't even felt like she had been the one saying it – it was like someone else had taken over. Where on earth had all of it come from? Her body was shaking and her lips felt numb and she was crying harder than ever, and at the moment she couldn't tell what was the truth and what was a lie.<p>

Those words – those awful, awful words – sure had felt true when they were coming out of her mouth… but they couldn't really have been, could they? She wouldn't say those things… she didn't really think that!

Did she?

For the second time that day she took off running, only this time she had a destination in mind.

She burst into her bedroom and closed the door behind her, then walked over to her bed and knelt down beside it. She pulled out from under it an old blue shoe box, inside which she kept all of her most prized mementos – a certificate from her primary school for good attendance, Shii-chan's adoption certificate, some pictures of herself when she was young and still living with her aunt and uncle (Come to think of it, who were those people? Were they really her relatives? How would she ever know?), the keychain Kazune had won her at the festival, and finally, hidden underneath all of it…

'_It's my most precious possession, so I hide it.'_

That was what Himeka-chan had said before she had shown Karin her own copy of this photograph, stolen from Kyuu-chan's bedroom.

Back then she hadn't known, had no idea the real meaning of this photograph.

Karin got to her feet and sunk down onto the edge of her bed. She sat there staring at it, her tears falling freely into her lap. This had been her family. _Their_ family. She and Kazuto and Himeka. That was all they needed. Back then, everything was perfect. How had it gone so wrong? How had everything changed so quickly? How could Kazuto have done this to her?

Then there was a soft knock on the door, and Karin hastily wiped the tears from her face. She stashed the picture under her pillow before calling, a little shakily, "Come in."

A good thing, too – a moment later, Kazune entered.

Karin looked away from him, ashamed of the things she had said, and still unsure of whether she had meant them or not.

"Kazune…" she started to say as she got to her feet, but he just shook his head.

"You don't have to apologize. I didn't come for an explanation. I just wanted to see how you were doing. Are you all right?"

He was looking at her intently with concern in his eyes, and she felt herself tearing up again. She didn't deserve this. He shouldn't be so nice to her after…

When he saw her tears he said hastily, "What am I saying? Of course you're not. I'm sorry." Kazune ran a hand through his hair and sighed. "This is exactly what I was afraid of."

He stepped closer to her.

"This is why you were never supposed to remember – you shouldn't have to deal with this. It's too much for anyone to take. That's why he erased your memories; to protect you from this pain. I know, because I remember that feeling."

Then Kazune stopped talking abruptly, as if he felt he had said too much.

Karin remained motionless, staring at him, struggling to absorb everything. He was right, it was too much for one person to take. But what could she do? It wasn't like she could change anything now. It was already done.

Their eyes met, and she didn't have to say anything for him to know what she was thinking. But there was still one more thing that remained unsaid, one more question that he was compelled to ask, and it was the question that they both feared the most. So he whispered it, as if it would not hurt quite as much if he didn't say it out loud:

"What are you going to do when he's gone?"

Karin swallowed hard, and kept her eyes locked on Kazune's. She couldn't answer that. She didn't have to. They both knew; she would be heartbroken.

With a hiccupped sob she stepped toward him, and he instinctively wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close. She hugged him tightly in return and buried her face into his shoulder.

They stayed like that for a long time.

* * *

><p>As soon as Kazune had left the office behind him, Kazuto had slumped down into the desk chair, dropping his head in his hands in despair. He had heard and seen so much in the past few hours. His body felt exhausted, but his mind was churning with convoluted thoughts. No experience had ever left him with so many doubts.<p>

Now he found himself questioning everything he had worked for, and everything he had ever believed in. How could he have unwittingly hurt so many of the people he cared about? Was he really so selfish to have not seen any of it coming? Maybe he was not as good of a man as he thought he was… maybe he was truly despicable.

He thought back to all that Michiru-kun had told him on their walk, and found himself agonizing over all of the still-unanswered questions.

Why had he sealed his half of the research in Himeka, when he should have known that Karasuma would target her?

Why was he gone now? What had happened to him?

Why had he used the research to return Suzuka to a child form? What sort of danger had she been in that forced him to take her away from him, and their very young daughter, who still needed her mother in her life?

Why had he let things go so far? Why hadn't he done more to prevent this?

No matter how many ways he tried to justify his actions, he could find no suitable reasons for any of them.

_What use is knowledge_, he thought, _if the pursuit of it only creates pain like this? What is the purpose of power, if all the power in the world can't erase the hurt I've caused? Perhaps ignorance truly is bliss…?_

A quiet knock on the door jolted him out of his dark reverie, and he looked up as Himeka entered, carrying a large tray of tea and sandwiches.

"I thought you might be getting hungry, so I brought you something to eat."

"Thank you."

She set the tray on the desk and sat down in the chair opposite him.

"So," she said pleasantly, smiling at him, "have you figured out what you're doing here yet?"

He was a little surprised at how direct she was. Maybe he had expected her to be more awkward or shy; after all, they hadn't seen each other since she was a baby, had they? He still couldn't believe how grown up she was.

Kazuto sighed. "No, not really."

He wasn't going to tell her how upset he was by what he had discovered. So he gave a small smile and said thoughtfully, "I'm surprised at how well you've taken all of this, though. You hardly even seemed shocked to see me."

Himeka gave a tinkling laugh. "That's true, I hadn't thought of it that way. Maybe I'm just so used to all of the strange occurrences around here that it takes a lot to surprise me now."

Kazuto chuckled at that. "You are my daughter, after all."

She smiled, but he had inadvertently reminded himself of what Karin had said and lapsed into silence again. More to have something to say, and to keep Himeka from being uncomfortable, he asked, "How did you recognize me? You can't possibly remember me very well, can you?"

Himeka shook her head a little sadly. "Not really, no. I think I knew you most from the photograph…"

That caught his attention. "Photograph?"

Himeka had come prepared. She produced it from her pocket and handed it over.

"It's the only one I have. I normally keep it hidden in a box under my bed."

She appeared surprised with herself for having divulged that information and added quickly, "But don't tell anyone that. It's my secret hiding place."

He smiled. "Don't worry, I won't."

Kazuto looked down at the photograph, and his expression rapidly changed from amusement to astonishment.

"Himeka," he said incredulously, "this photograph… we just had it taken."

"What?" Himeka asked, her eyes wide.

"From the time I came from… Yes, I remember. We were in the park just outside the city, not too far from the university."

"Wow," Himeka whispered. "I was that little? In the time you came from?"

Kazuto was still staring at the photograph, at Suzuka's beautiful smile, and their happy, perfect little Himeka, who was now miraculously sitting in front of him, almost grown. How could he have broken up this family?

"Yes, you were that little. Hard to believe, isn't it?"

There was a short pause as they both sat quietly, imagining what it might have been like if things had worked out differently. Would they have spent many nights like this, talking together? Would Suzuka have been there next to them, busily roving about the room, unable to sit still, occasionally throwing in lines to make them laugh while the two of them discussed more serious subjects?

Kazuto looked up at his daughter, suddenly remembering his promise to tell her the truth. "Himeka?" he asked, "What do you know about your mother?"

Himeka's whole demeanor changed at the question. Her smile faded, and she dropped her eyes to stare down at her hands clasped in her lap.

"Kazune-chan… told me that she died a long time ago."

There was a silence, then she continued, "But… I knew that he was lying. I always know when he lies. He's always trying to protect me. I'm sure he thought… that I couldn't handle knowing the truth."

Kazuto was watching her carefully, and he could tell that she was holding back. His daughter was very intuitive, he knew, but how much had she been able to guess?

"But you figured it out anyway?" he asked gently, and she turned her dark brown eyes – nearly identical to his – on him. Then she nodded.

"I think I've known for a while."

She dropped her gaze to the picture on the desk and said, "It's Karin-chan… isn't it?"

So Himeka did know the truth after all, and had kept it to herself this whole time.

"Yes," Kazuto said at last. "Her name was Suzuka. She's the woman in this photograph. And she and the Karin you know are one and the same person."

He paused to see how she would react, but she did not show any sign that this news had upset her. She merely looked at him soberly and, with the calm, even tone of a scientist said, "Please, go on."

Kazuto glanced down at his intertwined fingers resting on the desk and sighed.

"For a reason I still don't understand, I had to take drastic measures to protect her, and used my research to revert her back to a child and hid her away. Until very recently, she had no memories of her past life or identity at all. But now it seems that she is getting most of her memories back, and obviously that is causing a lot of confusion for her."

As he was talking, Himeka's calm started to dissipate. When she heard that Karin was getting her memories back, she gasped and covered her mouth with her hands. Then her eyes started to fill with tears, and Kazuto said quickly, "Please don't cry, Himeka. I know this is a lot to take in, but I promise you everything is going to be all right…"

But Himeka was shaking her head. "She remembers?" she whispered. "I said those terrible things to her, and she remembers?"

It looked like Kazuto had lied to Karin after all; Himeka had known exactly what she was saying, and had been counting on Karin to be the one who didn't understand.

"Oh no… I knew I had hurt her feelings, and I knew I shouldn't have said it, but I was upset and frustrated at never being told anything. I didn't really mean it! I don't mind that she looks after me so much!"

She looked up at him, her eyes fearful, "Does she hate me now?"

Kazuto looked her in the eye and said seriously, "No, she doesn't. She could never hate you. In fact, she was afraid that you were the one who hated her."

"No!" Himeka protested, "That isn't true!"

"That is exactly what I told her. She was quite upset, though."

"Oh no!" Himeka repeated. "This is awful! I have to go apologize to her right away! She's my best friend… and I love her."

Kazuto regarded her thoughtfully, then said, "I think she would like to hear that."

Himeka nodded.

"Okay, I'll go tell her." She got to her feet, then hesitated. "Thank you for being honest with me."

"Of course."

_I'm your dad_, he added to himself, _you can always count on me._

Or at least, that was what he had always told himself, ever since the day she was born. He hadn't exactly been around for her very much since, though, had he? And knowing that hurt. It hurt more than anything.

Then he remembered something.

"Can you do something for me?" he asked, and she nodded. "Go easy on Kazune too, okay? He loves you, and he's only trying to protect you for me. We have to be grateful for him."

She nodded again. "I know. I love Kazune-chan."

Then Himeka did something that surprised him. She walked around the desk and hugged him tight, and planted a kiss on his cheek. "And I love you, too."

He hugged his daughter back and murmured, "I love you, Himeka. No matter what."

"I know," she repeated, then released him. "Good night, Papa."

"Good night."

He watched her go, suddenly getting the strange feeling that those were the last words she would ever say to him.

He wiped a tear from his eye and whispered to the empty room, "Good night, my precious Himeka…"

* * *

><p><em>(AN) Are you crying yet?Sorry… haha. The sad parts are almost over, I promise. Actually, we're almost to the action! So there will be a nice break from all of this drama – not that there won't be more drama later, of course. There was a little Karin/Kazune moment in this chapter too, wasn't there? There will be more of that to come a bit later as well, so please, stick around!_

_If you've stuck with me and this story thus far, I would just like to say thank you very, very much for reading! This chapter officially puts Prometheus over the 20,000 word mark, which is pretty darn good. And if you have enjoyed reading this story as much as I have enjoyed writing it so far (or even if you haven't), please send in a short review. I would love to hear from you. _

_But whether you review or not, I would like everyone reading this to know that I appreciate you for sharing my words with me._

_Thanks._

_- K.K._


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